Rutgers admitted to research consortium

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December 5, 2012 at 11:44 AM

Beginning July 1, Rutgers University will be a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, a consortium of research universities consisting of members of the Big Ten Conference and the University of Chicago.

The invitation to join, which was unanimously presented to Rutgers by the provosts of the other member schools, was an important part of Rutgers moving from the Big East Conference to the Big Ten. Today, Rutgers announced it had accepted the invitation to join the CIC.

“Most of the schools in the consortium are, like Rutgers, large state universities that serve a similar mission,” said Dr. Robert Barchi, president of Rutgers, in the announcement. “This is where Rutgers belongs. The CIC is committed to advance its members’ academic missions, leverage campus resources, share expertise, and expand academic research opportunities for students and faculty.”

CIC members are able to share library resources, leverage purchasing agreements, and have students participate in classes, research and study-abroad programs offered by the other members.

It’s estimated roughly $9 billion of funded research is performed annually at CIC institutions.

“This opens a new realm of possibilities,” said Richard L. Edwards, executive vice president for academic affairs at Rutgers. “Our students will have access to new courses through distance-learning technology, millions more library volumes and new study-abroad programs.”